Features Glade Festival 2009 Review
The weekend of Glade was here and we headed down to Winchester to Glades new home, Matterley Bowl. Having been to Glade at their old home, I couldn't wait to see what they had in store for us this year.
We arrived at the Glade site on Saturday morning. The weather for the two days had been reported as rainy and stormy so we weren't sure what to expect. The site was well signposted and driving round to the car park was easy. We breezed in without any problems at all. In fact, there were no searches and we walked straight into our camp site and managed to pitch up about 300 yards from where we were parked. We could tell this was going to be a very laid back couple of days and having attended Glade in the past, we knew that it would be a totally different experience to any other festival this summer.
Once we had made camp we headed off into the festival proper. As we came round the corner we were struck by how small the site was and what close proximity the tents were in to each other. We knew that the capacity was only 10,000 which is very small for a festival, but it seemed even smaller. This is exactly what makes Glade unique and keeps people coming back year after year. The organisers are always keen to create the 'free party' vibe and they have certainly achieved this. The festival goers were mainly sporting multi-coloured dreadlocks and as a result, any trouble seemed to be the last thing on anybodies mind. Located at Matterley Bowl in Winchester, the site was surrounded by lush green hills that form a natural amphitheatre around the festival. This contributed to the extended hours of 6am for the music as it helped keep the sound within the site rather than rattling windows of a nearby farm. As the site was very small, the camping was virtually on top of the music area, which means you never had far to stumble to see the artists you wanted. We got a couple of beers and went to check out the main stage. A quite small structure and what appeared to be the same stage as the one they use for Glade at Glastonbury.
There were plenty or bars dotted around the site and as this event wasn't sponsored by anyone there was a wider selection available. The very special festival strength Brothers Cider that you get at Glastonbury was on offer. I am not sure if we got an bad selection, but it tasted like we were drinking squash or something. We avoided the Brothers cider for the rest of the festival. The other bars were pricey, but not as bad as some places I have been. The food on offer was as far away from usual festival food as possible. Gone were the awful burgers and junk food and in were nice organic offerings from falafel to vegetarian snacks. A good selection of cakes and treats were also available and the brownies we very impressive. Festival toilets are always a massive talking point and the toilets at Glade were relatively clean. The toilets in the VIP camping were particlurly clean and a pleasure to use.
The weather turned about an hour after we arrived on site and was raining hard throughout the afternoon. This caused a bit of a mud bath and there were a lot of people caked in the stuff. It wasn't anywhere near as bad as 2007 and I have seen worse at a lot of other festivals. Thankfully it didn't seem to dampen the spirits of the faithful who had been on site since Thursday evening and the party, of course, went on. In fact people seemed to embrace the mud and decided to plaster themselves in it.
The Music
First up at the main stage we caught the second half of a set from a group called The Qemists. The trio from Brighton, who were joined by renowned Drum and Bass vocalist and previous 1extra DJ Jenna G, and Bruno MC, stopped off at Glade as part of their Join the Q tour. Taking in places such as Japan, Holland and The Isle of Wight, they are sure to be rinsing a dancehall near you soon. Peddling their own brand of jump up drum and bass and rock, they really injected some well needed energy. Sounding remarkably like Pendulum, they blasted the afternoon crowd.They were good fun and Jenna's unmistakable vocals really complimented the bouncy drum and bass, rock hybrid that was being played by the band.
The crowd and atmosphere were gaining pace at the main stage and next up were one of my favourite acts of the day, The Dubpistols. The London based Dub and Big Beat band bought the fun and games to Glade. People seemed to love it almost as much as they did. The band founded by Barry Ashworth in 1996 are always busy touring and Glade was a stop on a seemingly endless summer of festivals at home and abroad. Although they aren't strictly dance or electronic music, bringing their own blend of ska, dub, bigbeat and good vibes, they gave a great performance. The energy and enjoyment of the band was contagious and the crowd that had gathered were very appreciative. Having heard them a few times, it was great to finally see them live and a particular favourite track is ' The Problem Is' which they played. They have had over a million hits on their myspace so are clearly very popular. Try and catch them if you can!
Taking a break from the main stage, it was time to explore the site and all it had to offer. Turning the corner from the main stage, we came across the Arcadia installation, looking little more than a structure made out of stuff you would normally see on a junkyard, I guess we would have to wait and see what happened there. Moving round to the club tent, which was hosted by Londons very own Mulletover, we managed to catch Daren and Spencer, with their unique blend of deep house entertaining a growing crowd. There were also appearances from Geddes, Adultnapper and the legendary MR C.
Within the main area, there was an art installation involving a huge pile of brightly coloured and modified cars. We are not quite sure what this was in aid of, but it looked cool and it also gave people somewhere to sit.
Moving out of the main festival area we went to check out the VIP tent, little more than a tent with a bar and loads of comfy seating, it bought a bit of relief from the mud and chaos down the hill. We got ourselves a couple of beers and chatted to a couple of the fesitval goers about what they thought about the festival. One said, she thought glade was the best festival in the UK, a sentiment seemingly shared by most of the people there.
Back to the main stage and it was time to catch the Freestylers. These guys have been on the Breaks/Drum and Bass/Dance music scene for a long time now and have acheived commercial and underground success with their music. Having seen them DJ in the past, I was pretty excited to catch waht was going to be a fully live band performing their tracks past and present. One of the people I was with was laughing at me for wanting to see them, because he thought The Freestylers were responsible for that awful track 'Freestyler' by The Boomfunk MC's. Thankfully not, but they are responsible for big tunes such as Boom Blast, Push Up and Painkiller feat Pendulum.
They were joined on stage by legenday reggae/jungle MC, Tenor Fly and the always energetic and involved Valerie M. She owned the stage and added to what was a most memorable performance by the Freestylers. Finally Squarepusher bought the music on the live stage to a close with an awesome performance. Not knowing any of their music or what we could expect added to the enjoyment. A great end to an awesome afternoon on the main stage.
Now that night had fallen, the Arcadia installation had come to life. Spitting out flames from the structure and playing some of the darkest breakbeats I have ever heard, this was a sight to behold and something you are unlikely to see anywhere else. Supplying the bass and beats, Deekline was perched on what is probably the most amazing DJ booth I have ever seen, the crowd going mad every time the flames fired into the night. An amazing sight and some quality beats were provided. We stayed around there for the rest of the night, dancing in our wellies to the sound of big breaks.
Sadly our stay at Glade was cut short due to illness and we had to leave early on the Sunday morning, missing what would have been our highlight of the weekend, a whole day of Drum and Bass. We would have also had loved to spend more time in some of the other tents as well. Sadly this wasn't to be, and we drove off disappointed but content having enjoyed the Saturday immensely.
Glade 2009 was as unique as ever. It continues to offer a more traditional and laid back experience than any of the other electronic music festivals on offer. As always with a small niche festival it may not be to your taste and we felt that there was a little too much going on for a relatively small crowd. Probably a bit of a strange complaint, but I think an extra 5000 people would have done the trick. Crowds at times seemed to be pretty thinly spread in the arenas, but its small size is of course one of the main points about Glade and one that the organisers are proud of. Having the music going on until 6am both days instead of the usual 12am made a huge difference. One other minor problem was the majority of the tents were stood very close together which meant you ended up with a bit of a sound clash when all 11 or so beautiful Funktion 1 sound systems were in full flow. A minor detail, but one that was mentioned by quite a lot of the people we spoke to.
Glade always has been a good festival and this was one was no exception. A small amount of the music on offer was to my taste,but Glade is about more than the music. Its the sights, sounds, atmosphere and laid back people that make it what it is. If you haven't seen Glade at least once in your lifetime, you have to!
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